Latest news with #GilmourSpaceTechnologies'
Mint
30-07-2025
- Business
- Mint
Australian Rocket With Vegemite Aboard Crashes Shortly After Take-Off
(Bloomberg) -- An Australian rocket crashed shortly after taking off, marking the first attempt to reach orbit with a made-in-Australia vehicle. Space startup Gilmour Space Technologies' first test flight of its Eris rocket left the launch pad at the company's Bowen Orbital Spaceport, about 1,000 kilometers (620 miles) northwest of Brisbane, on Wednesday morning local time. It flew for about 14 seconds, the company said in a statement. The launch came after months of delays, with Gilmour Space having aimed for a debut in March before pushing back the date multiple times, including a postponement in May because of an issue with the rocket's payload fairing. 'Space is hard,' Chief Executive Officer Adam Gilmour said in the statement. 'SpaceX, Rocket Lab and others needed multiple test flights to reach orbit. We've learned a tremendous amount that will go directly into improving our next vehicle, which is already in production.' It's not unusual for a new rocket to fail on its first launch attempt, and the three-stage Eris rocket wasn't carrying any satellites or other expensive cargo. Gilmour told Bloomberg News ahead of the launch that success would be defined as lifting off the launch pad. The Eris had a minimal payload that included a jar of Vegemite, the thick black toast spread that many Australians consider a national symbol. Based on the Gold Coast, Queensland state, Gilmour Space started its rocket program in 2015 and had hoped to launch as early as 2023. It pushed back that timeline as it waited for regulatory approval. The roughly 25-meter (82-foot) tall rocket uses a hybrid liquid-solid propellant technology, a system that Gilmour Space says is safer and cheaper than the liquid or solid fuels that many other rockets use. The Australian Space Agency announced on July 25 that Gilmour received A$5 million ($3.3 million) from Australia's government to accelerate the development of the rocket's engine. The company also has backing from investors including Blackbird Ventures and Queensland Investment Corporation. 'We have quite a lot of investors that are interested in investing in the company,' Gilmour said. 'But they're obviously waiting to see what happens with the launch before they decide to invest or not.' (Updates to add details from statement throughout.) More stories like this are available on
Sky News AU
30-07-2025
- Business
- Sky News AU
Gilmour Space lifts off as Australia's first locally built rocket launches from North Queensland
An Australian company has made history with the launch of the first ever locally-built rocket in Bowen, North Queensland. Gilmour Space Technologies' Eris Test Flight 1 was launched off from the Bowen Orbital Spaceport just after 8.30am on Wednesday, marking a milestone in the country's space ambitions despite the rocket collapsing shortly after liftoff in a planned manoeuvre. Though the launch was originally planned for 2022 there were multiple delays due to engineering and regulatory hurdles. Co-founder and CEO Adam Gilmour said the launch was a major win for the company and the country and expressed he was happy with the launch attempt. 'We're happy about it, especially considering the rocket has been sitting ready for a year and a half,' Mr Gilmour said. 'The rocket wasn't designed to do that, and we wanted to get off the pad at minimum.' We had all four engines fire off nicely, the rocket is off the pad now and no visible damage to the pad,' he continued. The launch, years in the making, was hailed as a huge step toward creating a sovereign space industry. Gilmour Space said it hopes to launch its second attempt within six months, with the next rocket already under construction. The mission, while short-lived, collected critical data that will be used to improve future rockets. 'It's almost unheard of for a private rocket company to launch successfully to orbit the first time,' Mr Gilmour said. 'Every second of flight will deliver valuable data that will improve our rocket's reliability and performance for future launches.' There's also talk the Bowen launch site could become a major tourism destination, with Adam Gilmour even calling it 'Australia's Cape Canaveral'.
7NEWS
29-07-2025
- Climate
- 7NEWS
Winds force Gilmour Space to cancel historic Queensland rocket launch
Australia's first homegrown orbital rocket has been forced to stay grounded after strong winds blew Gilmour Space Technologies' historic mission off course. The 23-metre Eris rocket had been on the pad at Bowen Orbital Spaceport in Queensland, ready to blast off during a launch window between 1.30pm and 5.30pm on Tuesday. But at 3.22pm, chief executive Adam Gilmour confirmed the mission was cancelled. 'Scrubbing for the day. Can't get past the wind limits. Will try again tomorrow,' Gilmour posted on LinkedIn. The team had been 'getting whacked by winds' at 4–5km altitude, just above the safety threshold. Tomorrow's not promising 7NEWS Queensland meteorologist Tony Auden said the outlook for Wednesday has not improved. 'Without knowing the exact thresholds for launch, it seems the jet stream — or winds in the upper atmosphere — are having a big effect on whether a launch will go ahead,' Auden explained. 'The upper winds tomorrow are likely a little stronger than today. 'So on that information alone, a launch would seem less likely.' Eris aims to make history as the first of its kind to be launched from Australian soil using hybrid propulsion. The technology combines solid and liquid fuel for safer and cheaper access to space. The rocket is designed to carry small satellites into orbit, a major leap for Australia's space industry and a project more than a decade in the making. The launch was previously postponed due to multiple technical issues.
7NEWS
27-05-2025
- Science
- 7NEWS
Cockatoo caught on camera near wires at Queensland rocket launch site amid technical troubles
Cow paddocks, Vegemite and now a cockatoo — Gilmour Space Technologies' latest failed rocket launch couldn't get more Aussie. The Queensland aerospace trailblazer was forced to cancel the highly anticipated launch of its 23-metre Eris rocket on May 16 due to a last-minute electrical fault. Almost two weeks after the start of Australia's first locally-made rocket from the purpose-built Bowen Orbital Spaceport on a former cow paddock was abruptly aborted, an unlikely suspect has emerged: a cheeky cockatoo caught on camera suspiciously close to some critical wiring. Gilmour Space themselves shared a photo of the curious cockatoo on Facebook with a cheeky caption: 'Not saying this is the root cause of our electrical issues ... but we're not ruling him out!' Comments flooded in, mixing humour with disbelief: 'Lucky he didn't launch, could have turned into a flamin' galah,' one said. Another quipped, 'So computers have bugs and rockets have cockatoos.' Another commented, 'Could this be any more Aussie?' Adding to the Aussie flavour, the rocket's payload included a jar of Vegemite — the iconic salty yeast spread that's a staple in homes across the country. Some say the cockatoo might have been lured by the unmistakable aroma. 'It can smell the Vegemite, how Australian,' one Facebook post said. While the bird hasn't been officially named the culprit, Gilmour Space confirmed it might have been 'at best a contributing factor' in the electrical fault that led to the launch being called off. Federal Member for Dawson Andrew Willcox summed it up: 'This is what happens – in all seriousness – when you are launching a rocket out in the elements.' Gilmour Space told 7NEWS they're continuing to investigate the issues and making good progress toward fixes. 'Our team is continuing to investigate the issues identified during our last launch attempt. 'We're making good progress and expect to begin implementing fixes soon. 'We'll share an update on the next launch window as soon as it's confirmed.'
Sky News AU
15-05-2025
- Business
- Sky News AU
First ever Australian-built rocket's launch delayed as issue discovered hours before scheduled take-off
The launch of the first ever Australian-built rocket hoping to reach orbit has been delayed after an issue was discovered just hours before its scheduled take-off. Gilmour Space Technologies is hoping to make history when its Eris rocket launches for the first time from Bowen Orbital Spaceport in north Queensland, and a launch window of between 7.30am - 5.30pm on Thursday had been set. But the Gold Coast-based rocket company provided an update about 6.30am on Thursday morning, sharing that an issue has been identified in the ground support system during overnight checks. 'We're now in an extended hold while we work through it,' a post on the Gilmour Space Technologies' Facebook page said. The company is now hoping to launch on Friday morning. Bowen area residents have been asked to observe all hazard areas for land, sea and air that are in place on launch days. Gilmour Space Technologies announced in February that a launch window starting no earlier than March 15 had been set for Eris' maiden flight, which hoped to make history as the first Australian-designed and built rocket to reach orbit. The news came after the company was given the green light by the Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA) and Airservices Australia. Co-founder and chief executive Adam Gilmour highlighted that delays are a 'normal part of rocket launches' that can last from hours to days or even weeks, often caused by technical issues or weather conditions. "Safety is always the top priority. We'll only launch when we're ready, and when conditions are appropriate," Mr Gilmour said in the February announcement. He pointed out 'the first launch is always the hardest' as getting a rocket to reach orbit is a 'highly complex engineering challenge'. "It's almost unheard of for a private rocket company to launch successfully to orbit the first time,' Mr Gilmour said. 'Whether we make it off the pad, reach max Q, or get all the way to space, what's important is that every second of flight will deliver valuable data that will improve our rocket's reliability and performance for future launches." Mr Gilmoir said there are only six countries in the world regularly launching rockets into space using their own technology, and 'Australia could soon be one of them'.
